Bombing in Brussels

On the morning of March 22nd, three coordinated suicide bombings occurred in the city of Brussels, Belgium: two at Brussels airport and one at a metro station. In the span of an hour, the attacks claimed thirty-one lives and injured three hundred thirty others. Several hours later, Belgian authorities discovered another bomb in Brussels airport. Fortunately, Belgian authorities handled it in a professional manner and the discovered bomb did not harm anyone.

Two of the suicide bombings are believed to have been carried out by Khalid and Brahim el-Bakraoui, a pair of Belgian nationals who were of Moroccan descent. Khalid carried out the attack on the metro station while his brother, Brahim, carried out the attack at the airport. It is also believed that two other men also carried out the attack on the airport, one of them being Najim Laachraoui and the other man being unidentified. Besides the suicide bombers, it is believed that there are several others who are connected to the group which carried out the attacks and may have aided in the coordination and planning of the attacks.

In the immediate aftermath, air traffic coming to the airport was halted and all terminals were hastily evacuated. All public transportation in Brussels was shut down as a result of the attacks and the terror alert level was raised to the highest level by the Belgian Interior Ministry. The country’s two nuclear power plants were partially evacuated. Authorities implemented temporary border checks on the Belgian-French border.

The Belgian government soon announced three days of national mourning and flags were flown at half-mast on all public buildings. Governments from around the world publicly condemned the attacks on Brussels and gave their condolences to the people of Belgium. From the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon, to president Obama and even the President of the Presidium of the DPRK Supreme People’s Assembly Kim Yong Nam. The radical Islamic group ISIS, also known as Daesh, has taken responsibility for the attack and promised “dark days” for any country taking part in the anti-ISIS coalition.